More than half of residents who took part in a patient survey claim to have experienced sub-standard care at the hands of their GPs, according to a local health charity.
The borough’s branch of Healthwatch, a UK consumer champion gathering public views on health services, reported the findings at a recent meeting of Barking and Dagenham Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board.
Since its launch in May last year, the organisation has handed out response cards allowing people to voice their opinions on a range of health matters.
Of those, more than 50 per cent spoke about their GP service, with more than half having suffered negative experiences.
The Post can today reveal the borough’s highest and lowest-ranked GP practises, as rated by their patients.
The information comes from NHS Choices, a service allowing patients to leave feedback and comments about their registered surgeries and grade them out of five stars.
Of the borough’s 49 practices, only five were awarded five stars, while 10 find themselves in the lowest bracket.
Five Elms Medical Practice, Five Elms Road, Dagenham, received the poorest showing, with a single-star rating based on 46 ratings.
A spokesman for the surgery said: “We always do our best to work with our patients to resolve any issues they may have.
“The vast majority are happy with the care they receive from our practice staff, but there is always room for improvement.”
Porters Avenue Surgery, Dagenham, and the Child and Family Doctors’ surgery, in Axe Street, Barking, were also graded one star – based on 24 and 21 ratings respectively.
Babar Baig, 43, business manager for the Porters Avenue surgery, said: “We take complaints very seriously and have our own clinical governance system to review any issues.
“We encourage patients to raise any problems face-to-face so we can deal with them.
We have 7,000 patients a month and the negative comments represent a minute percentage of them.”
Laburnum Health Centre, Broad Street Surgery, Victoria Road Surgery, Dr Chandra Mohan and Associates, Orchards Health Centre, Hallbut Street Surgery and the Thames View Medical Centre, in Bastbale Avenue, also received a single star.
Drs Kassim Alkaisy and Farukal Islam’s practice on Urswick Road, Dagenham, ranked the highest in the borough with seven positive reviews helping it to a maximum five stars.
Dr Alkaisy, 54, said: “It’s always nice to hear positive feedback, because we always make sure we look after our patients and communicate well on every level.”
Dr Syed Pervez’s surgery, in Third Avenue, and Dr Mohamme Fateh’s surgery, in First Avenue, both in Dagenham, and Dr Gurkirit Kalkat’s surgery, in Bastable Avenue, Barking, are also graded five stars.
Alison-Marie Carberry, 45, of Blessing Way, Barking, is one of Dr Kalkat’s patients and has no complaints about the quality of her care.
She said: “Dr Kalkat’s absolutely amazing and without him I simply wouldn’t be here. He listens to his patients and I can always get an appointment at short notice, sometimes he’ll see me even without an appointment.”
A spokesperson for Barking and Dagenham CCG said: “GPs value the feedback they get from patients as an important part of the constant drive to improve care for their patients.
“Surgeries face growing demand and, while the clear majority of feedback is positive, we know a common complaint is that it is hard to get to see a GP.
“Local GPs have successfully bid for money from the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund to increase access to surgeries, which will mean better access to GPs and also better care.”
A spokesperson for NHS England said: “We know patients often find it hard to see a GP and many of the comments on NHS Choices relate to patient access.
“NHS England (London) is currently working with Barking and Dagenham CCG to improve GP services, build extra capacity and implement new standards around GP access.”
To leave feedback about your GP practice, visit nhs.uk/Services/Trusts/GPs.
What do you think of your GP surgery? Email your views to mark.shales@archant.co.uk, call 020 8477 3824, comment on our Facebook page or tweet us @BDPost
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